


Not At First But Maybe Later.

by theweakestthing



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-04-30 19:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5177621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theweakestthing/pseuds/theweakestthing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Second chances are rarely given and the percentage of those people that deserve it is far smaller than you’d hope, so once you’ve got what you really desire you mustn’t let it go. There are no third chances.</p><p>[discontinued]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

To say that Tsukishima Kei hated or disliked almost everything was to wildly overestimate his ability to express emotion, mostly he considered himself indifferent. Most people irritated him and even though he'd joined a club, he wasn't really ever excited about much at all. 

Of course something had to give eventually, somehow this obvious teenage phase that millions had been through before would come to an end. 

All the boys on volleyball club were more expressive than him, more enthusiastic than him, just more in almost every sense. Most especially the two first years that had joined with himself and Yamaguchi, it was like there was nothing else in the world to the pair of them. It was terrifying in that way that uncanny things were and watching the pair of them play was even worse, that freakish quick gave Tsukishima shivers. He couldn't stand the sight of it. 

Really he couldn't stand either of them, they were far too much for him to handle, just looking at them made him tired. Obnoxiously loud and weirdly in sync, that sound of irritation came to his mouth often in their presence, well that or a short huffing laughter at their staggering combined stupidity. 

There were times where, although not aloud and not when anyone would notice, he admired them. Their ability and potential was something that you just couldn't help but acknowledge, that passion was something that Tsukishima himself was in a small way envious of. 

And then there was the time that they asked him to help them study, which he considered to be an entire level of hell designed solely for him. He had some sort of secret respect for Hinata though, the other always made themselves known, always stood firmly in the face of adversity, always boldly and sometimes blindly stepped forward. 

That might have been why he'd completely frozen when Hinata had hit the floor, it happened regularly but even as the other was falling Tsukishima could tell that the other was not okay. Hinata hit the ground with a hard thunk and did not move, usually the other would have instantly gotten up or yelled or something just anything other than nothing.   
Tsukishima couldn't move at that moment, he found himself willing time to stop, hoping that it would if he just kept still enough. It didn't though. 

It was a severe concussion and quite frankly Tsukishima was surprised that it hadn’t happened sooner, all things considered. 

He certainly wasn’t the first to visit Hinata in the hospital, heck he wasn’t even sure why he was there. Surely the small idiot that was freakishly fast would bounce back like they always did, but there was an odd feeling deep in his chest, something he really wanted to ignore and seemingly just couldn’t. 

Walking into the irritatingly bright room, Tsukishima saw the even more irritatingly bright boy turn their head toward him. The light coming from the window behind Hinata’s head burnt the edges of the other’s hair, creating a halo around Hinata’s head. 

“Hi,” Hinata said, smiling wide at him and Tsukishima already knew that something was up just from that. 

“Hey,” Tsukishima said frowning. 

“U-um, this is kinda awkward but my memory of people has seems to have gone whoosh right out of my head,” Hinata snickered in that sickly sad way, which only made Tsukishima’s frown deepen. “So I figure we’re in the volleyball team together, right?” Hinata asked, tilting his head. 

“Yeah,” Tsukishima mumbled. 

“So what’s your name?” Hinata asked and the bandages around his head were kind of endearing in that dumb way that Hinata always was. 

“How’s that going to help if you’re not going to remember me anyways?” Tsukishima said bitterly. 

“You know, it’s going to go away, I mean I’ll get everything back when the head stuff lessens,” Hinata murmured, fidgeting with the blankets, Tsukishima figured it was commendable that the other had sat still for that long. 

“Right,” Tsukishima said, all drawn out, breaking the silence. 

“Well?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Your name,” Hinata barked.

“Tsukishima,” he ground out through gritted teeth.

“The moon and the sun,” Hinata snickered, “we could make an eclipse on the court.”

Tsukishima didn’t say anything, just stared down at the other. His height cast a long shadow behind him and even though it was entirely because of the window, he felt bathed in the light that shone from Hinata. 

“If you’d ever listen to me,” Tsukishima bit out. 

“Maybe if you weren’t so mean I would,” Hinata threw back, as honest and forward as always. 

“Maybe if you weren’t such an idiot you would,” Tsukishima allowed himself a small smile at that. 

“You’re cute when you smile,” Hinata said, smiling back, and that was about all that Tsukishima could take and hoped this would be just another thing that the other would forget even though he knew it wouldn’t be.

Stalking out of the hospital, he walked all the way back to town, trying to walk off whatever it was that clung to him in the aftermath of that interaction. He had to stop in front of a store to look at himself, his suspicions were proven when he found his reflection smiling back at him. 

For some reason, unknown to even himself, Tsukishima returned to that hospital room the day after. He didn't knock, if he somehow caught Hinata doing something embarrassing then that would just be sweet punishment for dragging him back. 

"Oh oh, you're back!" Hinata announced uselessly, since they were the only people in the room, "I didn't expect that."

"Obviously," Tsukishima muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Hinata said, squinting at the other. 

"Nothing," Tsukishima said louder, smirking to himself. 

"Tsuki-shima wasn't it?" Hinata asked, tilting his head to the side as he thought, "moon standing tall at night."

"What?" Tsukishima asked, lip curled more at the way his heart reacted than at what Hinata had said. 

"Ah, it's just a visualisation thing that the doctor taught me, it helps me remember," Hinata explained smiling, "tall moon," he snickered pointing at Tsukishima. 

"Right," Tsukishima drew out. 

"The moon really is high in the sky tonight," Hinata noted, looking out through the window. 

Tsukishima didn't look out the window though, he watched the way that Hinata's fingers shook caught in the sheets. The other probably missed volleyball, all that pent up energy and the other was unable to let it free, he was sure that it would drive Hinata absolutely insane, well it was either that or the painkillers had worn off and that concussion was wreaking havoc through the other's head.

"You alright?" Tsukishima asked and only noticed his mistake when Hinata turned to him all wide sparkling eyes, "I-I mean, have the pain meds worn off or something?" he added, looking away from the other as he scratched at his neck. 

"Ah, the nurse'll be here to give me another dose any second now," Hinata said, but that wasn't it at all. Tsukishima could tell and the fact that he could tell drove him up the wall, he'd definitely been paying for too much attention to Hinata if he could notice things like that so easily. 

"Ok," he replied, "ma-"

"Do you think I'll be left behind?" Hinata asked, meeting Tsukishima's gaze with wavering eyes, that deep intensity as strong as ever.

"You mean in practice?" Tsukishima mumbled, feeling mighty uneasy, he was certain he wasn't the kind of person to be having this conversation with. Hinata simply nodded in reply and Tsukishima was trapped in that stare, he stood there for a while, returning the other's gaze. He sighed heavily before he spoke. "You'll have to work harder than ever when you get back, but," he muttered, voice steady and level, "it'll be light years before anyone catches up to those freakish reflexes."


	2. Chapter 2

"Do you remember me yet?" Tsukishima asked, standing in front of the door on his third consecutive visit. 

"Of course I remember you Tsukishima," Hinata grumbled. 

"Oh, no honorific?" Tsukishima asked, arching a brow at the other.

Tsukishima supposed that he deserved the scowling look that Hinata sent him then, he figured from that that the other had gained their memories back. 

"Why are you even here?" Hinata asked and it was about as rude as the other got, blunt with a slight hint of awe. 

"I don't know," Tsukishima shrugged, that was the honest answer. What was he doing there? Hinata and himself weren't exactly close, they were pretty much continents apart. He really had no right to care so much about the other, he wasn't even sure that he cared. 

"What sort of answer is that?" Hinata flailed and Tsukishima winced at the noise. 

"A bad one," Tsukishima replied, Hinata growled and shook looking much like he would explode if he found the right tone. 

"I'm fine, I'm going home tomorrow," Hinata muttered.

"Ok," Tsukishima said, not knowing what else to say. He wished he'd been harsh, had said something snide and unnecessarily mean instead of the honesty that had easily fell out of his mouth. 

"That was kind of your invitation to leave," Hinata mumbled, calloused fingers toyed with the blankets over his knees. 

"Yeah," Tsukishima acknowledged but he still stood there, staring down at the other.

"Aren't you going?" Hinata said, finally looking back up at Tsukishima. 

"Are you telling me to leave?" Tsukishima asked, tilting his head condescendingly. 

"Argh!" Hinata groaned, turning to punch the pillow, "no," he said stubbornly. 

"Ah, well I should be going," Tsukishima said, making a show of looking at his watch.

"Oi!" Hinata squawked, leaping out of the bed and he shook Tsukishima by the lapels of his school blazer. 

"Would you quit that?" Tsukishima barked, curling his hands over Hinata's in an effort to still the other. It certainly did, Hinata stood there staring up at him with those wide deep eyes, it was embarrassing to say the least. "It was a joke," he ground out, trying to get the other to understand. 

"Oh," Hinata expelled quietly in realisation.

"Have you spoke to anyone about me visiting you?" Tsukishima asked with little intrigue. 

"Everyone came to see me before you and haven't come since, well apart from someone from my class dropping off homework, so I haven't had anyone to tell," Hinata explained, rambling. 

"Ok," Tsukishima said, "could you maybe not tell anyone?" He tired the softer approach for once. 

"Why would I tell anyone?" Hinata said, top lip curling as he spoke.

"Hmmm, well you tend to be unable to keep your mouth shut," Tsukishima shot back, narrowing his eyes.

"I won't," Hinata bit back. 

"Good," Tsukishima replied.

And they stood there glaring at each other for a while before Hinata began to sway, suddenly Tsukishima realised that he still had his hands over the other's. He promptly let go as soon as he noticed, but Hinata kept a hold on his blazer steadying himself. 

"Why don't you get back in the bed before you pass out, idiot," Tsukishima muttered.

"Fine," Hinata said, pushing off of Tsukishima. Climbed back onto the bed, scrambling a little from the height.

"You could have just jumped," Tsukishima pointed out. 

"Shut up, I'm not well I shouldn't be over exerting myself," Hinata replied grouchily. 

"Then why'd you leap off of the bed?" Tsukishima asked, as condescending as always. 

"Because you're such a dick," Hinata grumbled. 

Another moment of awkward silence as they tried not to stare at each other, it was boarding on painful. A moment where words that he really didn't want to say crawled up Tsukishima's throat and begged to be said, well he'd already embarrassed himself in front of the other today what would a little more do. 

"So are you coming back to school tomorrow?" Tsukishima asked and he'd never sounded so pathetic. 

"No, my mother wants me to stay at home for the rest of the week," Hinata said, looking kind of suspicious. 

Tsukishima was going to hate himself for what he was about to say but he said it anyways. 

"Can I come and visit you?" He asked, not looking at Hinata and scratching the back of his neck. 

"Only if you help me with my homework," Hinata said.

"Fine," Tsukishima agreed with a groan, he deserved the punishment for constantly acting like he was out of his damned mind. 

He wrote down instructions on how to get to Hinata's house before he left with a muted 'see ya', all the way home he tried to figure out why exactly had he done that. He wasn't really drawing a blank, he just didn't believe the answers that he gave himself. 

Tsukishima found himself unable to find a reason as to why he would want to be around Hinata so much, usually he couldn't get away from the other fast enough. Hinata just wasn't his kind of person, Hinata was loud, really loud, boisterous, kind of dumb and irritating. And somehow, despite all that, he had spent the last three days wasting his free time in the hospital with the other. Had found himself quietly looking forward to it even, no matter how much that pained him to admit. 

Maybe he was just enjoying winding Hinata up and watching the other go, it really had been fun to see the way that Hinata reacted. He'd especially gotten a kick out of the way Hinata had jumped out of the hospital bed just because he'd threatened to leave, he snickered to himself as he walked home. Smiling as he remembered the way the other had been staring up at him and then he stopped, stood there in the middle of the street feeling his face. He'd been smiling, Tsukishima Kei had been smiling about something that Hinata had done. 

It was sort of mortifying, how had he let this happen? He couldn't figure it out at all, so he ignored it. He didn't need to justify anything to himself. 

Stood in front of the Hinata household, Tsukishima once again wondered what on earth he was doing. He knocked lightly, after a moment a small girl opened the door and stared up at him. She had wide open and seemingly sparkling eyes, wild orange hair and when she opened her mouth she spoke loud enough to make Tsukishima wince. 

"Ni-san, there's a tall boy here!" She yelled, still staring up at him. 

"Let him in," Hinata called from further in the house. 

"Come in," she said gentler, stepping back from the door. 

"Thank you," Tsukishima muttered, entering the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Hinata was laid out on the couch and those bright eyes shone up at Tsukishima as he walked in.

"Nii-san's not feeling well," the girl said. 

"H-hi," Hinata basically chocked on the word, "uh this is my little sister Natsu," he gestured to her.

"She looks just like you," Tsukishima found himself saying needlessly. 

"Yeah," Hinata said, looking up at him dumbly. 

He stood there as awkwardly as always, that was until he felt some pulling on his pant leg. Looking down he found Natsu blinking up at him wide eyed. 

"You're so tall, my brother must look like an ant to you and I must look like a smaller ant," Natsu said with all the seriousness in the world. Tsukishima laughed, knuckles pressed to his lips to hide the sight.

"Oh oh, Natsu you made him laugh!" Hinata barked, sitting up on the couch making room for Tsukishima. Natsu giggled, running off somewhere with rosy cheeks.

Tsukishima hated the spotlight, but this wasn't so bad, he didn't exactly feel like the centre of attention it was more like he'd been brought into a room that was brighter than all of the other's he'd ever been in. He sat beside Hinata on the couch, school bag between his legs on the floor. 

"Have all your memories come back yet?" Tsukishima asked, eyes on Hinata's face, skin a little too shiny and pale. 

"No, I mean I barely remember you, just that you're incredibly annoying and mean," Hinata said, fingers rubbing at his scalp as he spoke, "that's how it is for everyone apart from my mum and Natsu," he shrugged. "I'll just have to get to know everyone again, it's not like I'm starting with nothing though."

"Yeah," Tsukishima sighed, it was all he could think to say. 

The silence drew out between them, filled only by the dull sounds coming from the television. It was painfully awkward, so much so that Tsukishima couldn't move fearing that he might make it worse. Heart hammering in his chest, there was something he wanted the answer to but desperately didn't want to say. He shifted uncomfortably at the thought, at the distance between them, somehow they were too far apart and too close at the same time. 

"Should probably get on with that homework before it gets dark," Hinata said, getting up from the couch, "let's go to my room, I think Natsu wants to watch cartoons," he said, rubbing the heel of his palm against his forehead. 

"Sure," Tsukishima said, standing up too quickly, having to steady himself with a hand atop the arm of the couch. God he was being pathetic, he thought, he couldn't wait to be alone with the other when he usually couldn't wait to be away from Hinata, what was with the sudden change of heart? Was this conflict of interests always a part of him, he wasn't sure really he just wanted to ignore all the things going on inside him. 

Following Hinata to the other's room, the house was small and homely, pretty much exactly as he'd imagined it, even with the slight disarray everything seemed to be in. Organised mess. 

For over an hour they sat cross legged on the floor working through Hinata's homework, as time went on frustration and irritation grew within the pair of them. 

"I think my brain's going to implode if this goes on for any longer," Tsukishima said, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. 

"But I've still got more!" Hinata barked, with furrowed brows and worried eyes. 

"You're screwed," Tsukihima muttered, letting himself fall backward, laying out on the floor and staring up at the ceiling. 

"You've got to help me Tsukishima," Hinata yelled shrilly looming over the other on his knees, making Tsukishima wince. 

"No I don't," Tsukishima groaned, "I'm sure they'll cut you some slack, you've a concussion," he added as an afterthought, something that might stop Hinata from shouting again. 

"Ugh, whatever," Hinata said, dropping the papers he'd been holding to go crawl atop his bed. 

Tsukishima watched, paper slowly making its way to the ground obscuring his vision slightly, his eyes were caught on the extension of Hinata's legs as the other lazily clamber up the bed. Heart in his throat as Hinata laid flat and looked directly at him, breathing slightly laboured. Hinata's gaze pulled at him like fish hooks digging into his skin, reeling him in. 

Alarms were going off inside his head, a sense of impending doom looming in the near future. 

Tsukishima sat up, busied himself with gathering up Hinata's scattered homework. He chewed on the inside of his mouth, brows furrowed as he tired his hardest not to look at the other. The more he thought about it the more it dawned on him that Hinata had always been hard not to look at, the other was like a beacon and Tsukishima's eyes had always been drawn toward the dazzling light that was Hinata. 

Setting the papers on the desk and putting his own homework back in his bag, Tsukishima stood up straight, shifted his weight awkwardly for a moment before he opened his mouth. 

"I'm gonna go, homework was obviously too much for your tiny brain to handle," he said, trying to offset the jumbled beating of his heart as Hinata looked up at him. 

"Are you going to come tomorrow?" Hinata asked, rolling onto his side, head pressed against the pillow and that wild orange hair splayed out against it in stark contrast to the crisp white of the pillowcase. 

"Why would I do that?" Tsukishima asked, brow arched pointedly at the other, honestly he didn't think it was such a good idea. He needed to get control, he couldn't do that when Hinata was around for obvious reasons. 

"I still have homework to finish," Hinata said, sparing a glance at the desk, an odd quality to his eyes that Tsukishima couldn't place.

"You can do that on your own," Tsukishima said too quickly, feeling his cheeks heat up.

"I can't," Hinata groaned, pressing his face into the pillow and groaning some more. 

Tsukishima pursed his lips, he shouldn't give in over something that didn't really have anything to do with him. Fingers pulled at the ends of his shirt as he stood there thinking it over, thinking something over that he shouldn't have thought about at all.

"You promised," Hinata whined, looking at Tsukishima from the corner of his eye, nose still pressed into the pillow. 

"Not really," Tsukishima said, frowning. This all tasted sour because really he wanted to stay longer and he wanted to come back tomorrow, then again he didn't want to, didn't want this to keep going. Hinata rose slowly, sitting up against the wall, the other levelled a look at him that Tsukishima couldn't quite read. 

"Tsukishima, please," Hinata asked, sounding drained, as though someone had sucked all the energy from him with a straw. 

Tsukishima didn't like that, didn't like seeing Hinata like that, it was all wrong. The other was supposed to be bouncing off the walls and driving him up them, this was just wrong.   
"You need to rest," Tsukishima said, "or your brain will shrink," he added, trying to feel more like himself instead of the shaken boy he'd become. And boy was he shaken, shaken to the core by his reaction to this whole situation. 

"That's all I do all day," Hinata muttered, scowling at the other, "I can't afford to get behind," he said, running his hand through his hair. 

"Fine," Tsukishima said as though it was a chore, as though he didn't feel relief at the thought of having something to look forward to. Having that face to look forward to, he hated how much he was looking forward to coming back when he hadn't even left. "Go to sleep, you look like you're about to pass out anyways," he said, despising the way that scratched at his throat. 

"As long as you promise to come back tomorrow," Hinata said, stubborn as ever, eyes shining with that light that dug in under Tsukishima's skin and pulled the other in. 

"I promise," Tsukishima said, condescension heavy in his tone but conviction strong inside him.


	4. Chapter 4

Tsukishima hated making promises, mostly because he took them quite seriously as he was stood there outside Hinata's door the next day after school. One hand in his pocket and the other one running through his hair as he wondered just what kind of mess he was getting himself into, clicking his tongue at himself.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he shifted on his feet for a brief moment before he rapped his knuckles against the door. It was Hinata himself that came to the door this time, there was a little more colour in the other's face and he supposed that Hinata had actually taken his advice for once and rested.

"So you really did come," Hinata said, that smile pushing its way across his mouth.

"You expected me to break my promise?" Tsukishima asked, mildly annoyed but not at all surprised.

"Can you really blame me?" Hinata said, sheepishly rubbing the nape of his neck as he smiled weakly up at the other.

"I suppose not," Tsukishima muttered under his breath and Hinata's head tilted to the side as though the other were trying to hear him better. "Are you ever going to let me in?" He asked, brow arched pointedly.

"Y-yeah," Hinata stammered as he stumbled backward, holding the door open for Tsukishima to come past, closing the door behind the other. "How was school?" He asked, loneliness evident in his tone and it was obvious that he was going mad being trapped indoors.

"The same as it always is," Tsukishima said simply, shrugging as bent down to slip off his shoes.

"Nothing happened?" Hinata asked, looking perplexed as he stared up at the other.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Tsukishima furrowed his brow, surely Hinata knew what sorts of things went on even if he wasn't there.

"Wow," Hinata drew out before walking further into the house.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tsukishima grumbled as he entered Hinata's bedroom, leaning on the frame as he watched the other gather the unfinished homework.

"I don't remember what the 'usual' is exactly or did you forget that?" Hinata said, he sounded kind of angry, not sparing a glance toward Tsukishima as he set the materials on the floor.

"Sorry," Tsukishima murmured after a moment, standing properly before he approached the other, sitting opposite Hinata on the floor. "Tanaka and Nishinoya were trying to figure out if Shimizu-senpai is sophisticated or sexy and eventually settled on both, then Daichi-san yelled at them whilst Sugawara-senpai stood smiling beside him. And Yamaguchi just practiced quietly and Kageyama was completely oblivious as he practiced with that scary focus of his," he droned on, crossing his legs as he got comfortable on the floor.

Hinata only blinked at him in response, expression growing sadder to the point where it was starting to make Tsukishima feel bad.

"What's wrong?" Tsukishima uncharacteristically asked, brows furrowed.

"No, it's nothing," Hinata's voice broke as he rubbed at his eyes, making it very apparent that it was clearly something and not nothing.

"If you say so," Tsukishima wasn't the kind to pry at all and how Hianta felt was one of those things that definitely wasn't his business. So instead of getting involved he arranged his own homework and let the other get on with composing themselves.

"We've all been together for months and I can hardly remember these people you're talking about," Hinata blabbered.

Tsukishima looked up from the papers and his notebook to find tears streaming down the other's face, he frowned, really this was getting bad and he had to get a handle on in his emotions.

"It's fine," he grumbled, "no one's going to expect you to remember everything straight away, you're injured it's not your fault," he reeled off, words meant to placate Hinata as he watched the other sniff pathetically.

"It's just really frustrating," Hinata bit out, fists balled in the hem of his t-shirt.

"There's nothing you can do about that right now, let's just get on with this homework for the time being," Tsukishima said, pushing the papers toward the other as he spoke.

"Fine," Hinata sighed, running forearm across his face.

They worked together for a while, Tsukishima quickly finished his own homework as he answered Hinata's inane questions. Oddly, he didn't find it half as irritating as he had before, maybe it had something to do with the pity he felt for the other, or he'd begun to harbour feelings for Hinata. Neither option was appealing but he couldn't deny that both possibilities were becoming more and more valid as he continued to choose to spend time in the other's presence, before he'd simply found the other annoying and a little full on for his taste. He didn't know what had changed, he didn't know what had made Hinata tolerable, but he was slowly allowing the other closer.

"Huh," Hinata sighed after Tsukishima hadn't looked up for a while.

"What?" Tsukishima asked, pointedly raising a brow at the other.

"You have your own way of comforting others don't you," Hinata smiled weakly and Tsukishima balked.

"I just didn't want you to do something useless," Tsukishima muttered, staring back down at his maths notes, trying his best to hide the heat in his cheeks. As if Hinata would have even noticed.

"You can be cool sometimes Tsukishima, I never knew," Hinata beamed.

"I'm not interested in being cool and neither should you be, you should focus more on your studies," Tsukishima said, going over the notes he'd already gone over twice as he continued not to look at the other.

"You're definitely not being cool now," Hinata pouted, scratching out his answers onto the page.

Tsukishima didn't know what do to now, he'd finished all of his own homework and Hinata didn't seem to really need his help anymore. He found himself watching the other, small hand curled around the mechanical pencil, chicken scrawl coming out on the page slowly. Bright orange bangs framed Hinata's face, fell into the other's eyes as they looked down. Lip held between teeth and brows furrowed as Hianta concentrated, it was cute and the fact that Tsukishima thought that alone was damning.

"Will you come tomorrow?" Hinata asked, suddenly looking up at Tsukishima, eyes gleaming.

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Tsukishima said uselessly.

"So?" Hinata said scrunching up his face, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"There's going to be a lot of practice," Tsukishima returned, chewing the words out without feeling them in his mouth.

"And?" Hinata asked, looking more confused, mechanical pen dropping to the floor.

"I'll be tired," Tsukishima said, unable to say that he didn't want to not just because it wasn't true, but also because he didn't want to see the other's reaction to those words.

Then Hinata was up on hands and knees, papers scattered on the floor, brightly shining eyes inches from Tsukishima's own.

The world around them seemed to still and the pounding of Tsukishima's heart was the only thing he could hear, this was no good surely.

"I'd like it if you came," Hinata murmured, breath sweeping over Tsukishima's face and fogging up the other's glasses, "so please, would you come back again tomorrow?" He asked again, conviction and determination ringing out from him as strong as it always did.

Tsukishima swallowed before speaking, "I might, if I feel like it," he said slowly, wholly unsure of himself. He hated this feeling, sinking and sickly twisting inside him, it felt like he was betraying himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, sorry for not updating often~


End file.
